Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley has endorsed former President Donald Trump for re-election in 2024.
Hawley threw support behind the former president's re-election campaign in a Tuesday interview with Politico.
“President Trump doesn’t need to worry. I’m with him. He’s asked me several times to support him. I said yes. And I’ve been saying for a year that I think he’s gonna be the nominee. I support him. I’m gonna vote for him,” Hawley said. “Don’t worry — you can put me down as support, endorsed, stand with.”
Hawley's endorsement follows a vague warning to both the Missouri senator and Texas Senator Ted Cruz shared by the former President on Sunday.
"So interesting that the Democrats are looking hard at the Senate races in both Missouri and Texas," Trump wrote to Truth Social. "Josh and Ted must be very careful, stranger things have happened!!!"
In August, Cruz said he was averse to endorsing Republican presidential candidates including Trump and GOP runner-up and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis out of caution for "serious fight" in his upcoming Senate re-election campaign in 2024.
"I'm staying out of that for many reasons, one of which is that I'm running for reelection in the great state of Texas and we're expecting a serious fight in Texas on my reelect," Cruz said during an interview on Newsmax. "Chuck Schumer has made clear that I'm the number one target for him and for the Democrats this cycle and from my perspective, I'd like the support of every Trump supporter and every DeSantis supporter so I'm staying out of it."
Hawley previously suggested Trump would be the likely GOP nominee in 2024, though did not explicitly endorse the former President.
"No offense to anybody else who's running, but I just said I don't think the primary is a real contest. I think he's going to be the nominee, and I will absolutely support him against the current president," Hawley said.
Hawley is the 18th senator to endorse Trump for re-election, followed by Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn, Florida Sen. Rick Scott, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, among others.
Other notable figures endorsing Trump for re-election include Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, former radio host and former presidential candidate Larry Elder, and retiring Rep. and former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy.
Trump currently holds a commanding 47.7-point advantage over DeSantis, according to RealClearPolitics. The Florida governor leads fellow GOP candidate and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley by a half point, followed by entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
